Chen Chi's Xiyuan Restaurant is a top restaurant in the city specializing in Huaiyang cuisine. It has a history of more than 40 years, but it has few branches. Apart from one branch each in the Capital and the Magic City, there is a main store in the city and the branch where Ye Tianlai came.
Of course, his family is a catering group. In addition to Xiyuan Restaurant, the group also has a national chain of home-style restaurants and fast food brand restaurants.
Therefore, as the group's most upscale restaurant, Xiyuan Restaurant, although not yet Michelin-rated, was highly regarded in the industry, and entering the kitchen was not easy. Ye Tian had always thought it was just a large restaurant and had not yet realized this problem, so it was inevitable that she would face some difficulties in her future work.
The next morning at 9:30, Ye Tian came to work on time.
HR manager Sister Song sent her to the kitchen. The chef was not there, and the deputy chef Yu Tao was arranging the ingredients for today's lunch.
Sister Song introduced Ye Tian to Deputy Chef Yu. She cleverly said that Ye Tian was an intern kitchen helper during the winter vacation and would leave when school started.
"When did we say we wanted an intern? Which culinary school is she from?" Chef Yu was a little displeased and glanced at Ye Tian out of the corner of his eye.
Sister Song didn't know what to say, so she looked at Ye Tian.
"Hello, Chef Yu. I'm a student in the Journalism Department of Hubin University. I love cooking and have been learning from a master chef for more than 10 years." Ye Tian took over.
"You're from the journalism department, so why are you interning in a restaurant? You should be interning at a newspaper?" Master Yu only heard about the journalism department. He didn't pay any attention to the cooking school in the following years, nor did he care.
Ye Tian felt Yu Tao's disdain and arrogance. She thought, maybe the head chef and sous chef in such a high-end restaurant are just more arrogant!
Since you are under someone's roof, and you are here to work, Ye Tian can only bow her head. She doesn't mind too much. From being sold by her family to opening Tianxia Diyilou, she has suffered all kinds of hardships and seen all kinds of scenes along the way.
Seeing this, Sister Song had no choice but to say, "Chef Yu, this Miss Ye was introduced by the young boss, and Vice President Chen has already approved her employment, so..."
"Since the boss has agreed, what can I, a worker, say? Xiao Xiong, go get Miss Ye a new set of clothes and a hat, and then take her to familiarize herself with the process of washing and picking vegetables," Deputy Chef Yu still had no expression and turned around to shout.
Seeing that the person was finally sent out, Sister Song quickly ran away.
Deputy Chef Yu really didn't like the company randomly stuffing people into the kitchen. He felt that since Ye Tian was a classmate of the young boss whom he had rarely met, he would let her start with the most difficult odd jobs. She would probably leave after a few days because she found it too hard.
Xiao Xiong wasn't young, about 27 or 28 years old. As his name suggested, he was tall and chubby, looking incredibly strong. He took Ye Tian to the adjacent dressing room, found a new chef's uniform and hat in the smallest size, and tossed them to Ye Tian. After a moment's thought, he found a new pair of plastic gloves and rain boots. "The backmost cabinet is empty, so you can use it first! Put them on and meet me in the kitchen," he said, turning and leaving.
"Everyone in the kitchen here is so cool!" Ye Tian thought. She took off her coat, quickly put on a brand new white chef's uniform, and changed into boots.
The new clothes that had not been washed were a bit stiff and had folds. They were not very close-fitting, but the waist was well-fitted, making Ye Tian look very heroic.
She carried her long plastic gloves and walked back to the kitchen along the same route. In the large rectangular kitchen, more than 10 people were already busy. Fortunately, Xiao Xiong was of a prominent figure, and Ye Tianyi found him.
"Brother Xiong, what do you think I should do first?" Ye Tian took the initiative to step forward. Someone nearby stopped what they were doing and looked at her. Ye Tian didn't know who it was, so she could only smile back.
This is not the small kitchen of the school's third canteen. From the executive chef and deputy chef to a series of chefs, kitchen helpers, handymen and other staff, the responsibilities and division of labor are clear, and the management is very standardized.
By the time customers started arriving at noon, Ye Tian realized the kitchen had become a complete assembly line. As soon as the electronic menus arrived, the chef in charge of preparing the dishes would prepare the ingredients and plates for each dish, label them with table numbers, and send them to the chef in charge of preparing the dish. The chef would then prepare and plate the dishes one by one according to the assigned plates, and the dishes would then be taken away by the wait staff. The entire process was incredibly smooth.
Ye Tian was amazed. Back then, they had waiters write down the menus, and then the kitchen would sort the orders and prepare the dishes. It was easy for mistakes to happen when things got busy. She had thought of many ways, but nothing was as quick and efficient as this. She had to sigh at the power of technology and modern management.
Ye Tian and Brother Xiong were still doing odd jobs, picking vegetables, washing vegetables, handling garbage, cleaning, and of course, washing dishes together with a sister named Zhang.
They have been busy since ten o'clock in the morning, and it was not until two o'clock in the afternoon when most of the guests had finished their meals that they finally had some free time to eat lunch.
The chefs also cooked lunch using leftover ingredients from the kitchen. The chefs, waiters, and other staff filled three large tables. Although each table only had four dishes and one soup, each dish was a large portion, filling up a large plate.
Ye Tian had only eaten a piece of bread that morning and was now hungry, so she followed the others to get her meal. Then she looked at the dining table and saw that there was no empty chair anywhere.
Brother Xiong went to the restaurant, pulled a chair, placed it next to him, and said, "Sit here and eat!"
Ye Tian quickly said, "Thank you, Brother Xiong," and then sat down to eat with everyone.
"Hey, Xiao Xiong, you have an apprentice too, and you're quite considerate to women!" A chef in his 30s next to him joked.
Brother Xiong had originally thought Ye Tian was just an intern, someone who was just there to get by, but he changed his mind after just one lunch break: this young woman was incredibly capable and not afraid of hard work at all. He usually looked expressionless, but he didn't give Ye Tian any hardship; he actually did all the heavy lifting himself.
But Ye Tian's job was not easy either. She started by picking and washing several large pots of vegetables, and later she washed hundreds of plates.
Despite being busy, Ye Tian still observed the various chefs working in the kitchen. She had to admit, despite his aloof demeanor, Chef Yu was truly the most skilled chef there. He was only responsible for two dishes today: the Huaiyang specialty, braised dried bean curd strips and Wensi tofu. Ye Tian could tell he was skilled with the knife.
When he was shredding the dried tofu, he didn't ask the kitchen helper for help, but did it all by himself. While he was shredding, there was a kitchen helper watching and learning from him, like his apprentice.
Take a piece of dried tofu, remove the skin from the top and bottom, split it into at least 16 layers in the middle, and then cut it into thin strips. After that, blanch it twice in boiling water. Don't just pour it directly into boiling water, otherwise the tofu strips will stick together.
The small river shrimps used must be cleaned, cut and then mixed with salt and starch. The cooked shredded chicken and ham, as well as the fresh shredded bamboo shoots, also have their own requirements and must be prepared in advance.
During the cooking process, Ye Tian discovered that Chef Yu added a spoonful of sugar and a spoonful of lard, which made the dish more fresh and the soup base more fragrant.
This Huaiyang specialty, while delicious, requires a lot of effort to prepare. However, Chef Yu's smooth and unhurried cooking creates a scene of its own in the bustling kitchen.
Wensi tofu requires even more skill with a knife. Slicing the tender tofu into extremely fine strips isn't something that can be achieved in a day or two; it requires years of practice. Even if Ye Tian were to do it now, she'd still be rusty at first.
Ye Tian didn't see the chef today. He was also the chef at the main restaurant, Lakeside, and usually had to travel between them. It was said that the chef was a reserved person and rarely came to this branch unless it was a very important banquet.
Ye Tian also watched as everyone prepared soft-shelled eel, crab meat and lion's head, and the long-prepared Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. Each dish was a classic. Although she didn't get a chance to try it, Ye Tian, judging by the preparation process and the finished product alone, would give it an 8 out of 10. It seems the chefs' pride here is truly based on their skills.
She suddenly couldn't understand why Chen Chi liked to eat in the small canteen No. 3 when there were so many chefs cooking here?
"Our Xiyuan staff meals are pretty good, right?" Sister Zhang, the handyman next to them, took the initiative to talk to Ye Tian. They had just washed the dishes together.
"Yeah, it's delicious." Ye Tian came back to her senses.
The chef who was joking just now interrupted and said, "Needless to say, the employee meals here are not comparable to those in ordinary restaurants. Those waitresses have gained weight after coming here and are always shouting about losing weight." After saying that, he looked at the waitress at another table.
Seeing that no one responded to him, he shut his mouth in boredom, picked up a big piece of food with his chopsticks and continued eating.
It was only noon and Ye Tian didn't know many people yet. She only knew Deputy Chef Yu, her brother Xiong, and Sister Zhang who did odd jobs with her. No one looked at her differently because she was introduced by Chen Chi.
In reality, that was because the chefs didn't know Chen Chi at all, and they didn't know that the new dish they'd painstakingly developed wasn't decided by the Big Boss or the Second Boss, but by the Big Boss's son, Young Master Chen Chi. If they had known, they might have tried to curry Chen Chi's favor.
Chen Chi and his uncle had come to this branch yesterday to check the accounts and hold a meeting with the management. After that, he would spend the entire winter break running back and forth between the various stores at home.
After he arranged for Ye Tian to work, he thought the store would take care of her, so he didn't ask any more questions. He also didn't contact Ye Tian specifically, because he was afraid that she would feel embarrassed working in his store.
By the time the restaurant closed, it was already past 10 p.m., and while the food was good, Ye Tian was exhausted. She'd rather spend an extra 10 yuan than ride a shared bike, and instead took a taxi home. Her legs ached as she climbed the stairs.
But the next day, when she handed the bank card to Sister Song, and Sister Song told her one month's salary for her internship, she immediately became full of energy and revived!
Moreover, I heard that the restaurant has a special reception task tonight, and the chef will come over to prepare the signature dishes himself.
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